Posts in Category: hawk
Immature Red-shouldered Hawk
Immature Red-shouldered Hawk, Washington Oaks Garden State Park, Florida
Back again to Florida for today’s pic. This is an immature Red-shouldered Hawk at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park south of St Augustine Florida. I saw a similar hawk last year when I visited, so I was kind of looking for this hawk when it appeared in the huge Live Oaks above the water features in the shaded part of the garden. It appeared as though on cue, and my students (it was a Point and Shoot Nature Photography field trip at the Florida Birding and Photo Fest) were duly impressed 🙂
Nikon P900 at 1200mm equivalent field of view (pulled back for context). 1/160 @ ISO 400 @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom.
Kestrel
American Kestrel, on the road to the beach, Kennebunk Maine
The light was going fast, with a storm coming on, and my “big gun” is in the shop, so I did not have the reach I am used to, but who can pass up a hunting American Kestrel. This is one of a pair that have been hunting, according to a fellow photographer who has been watching them, this field for a week. Maybe they will nest somewhere in the big Maples along the road, or in the forest bordering the field.
Nikon P610 at 1440mm equivalent field of view. 1/800th @ ISO 100 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom and cropped slightly for scale.
Northern Harrier
Northern Harrier. Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
Because the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is a working event for me, all of my photos from Bosque are early or late…before the Expo Tent warms up, or after it closes for the day at 5PM. This female Northern Harrier was hunting the marshy area on the two way connector between the north and south loops of the tour road early one morning. I stopped the car and popped out with the camera to try to catch it in flight. The bird only gave me a few chances as it worked up and down the marsh…and all too soon it drifted out of range. This shot, though I would have preferred to keep both wingtips in frame, is satisfying to me because of the direct eye contact. That is a real hunter’s stare. Fortunately for me, I am not Harrier prey. 🙂
Nikon P900 at 1200mm equivalent field of view. 1/400th @ ISO 100 @ f6.3. Processed and cropped slightly for scale in Lightroom.
Sharpy!
Sharp-shinned Hawk, Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area, Cape May, New Jersey
I spent a few hours at Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area in Cape May, New Jersey, on Saturday morning. Some good birds and some good photo ops. Probably the best were the two cooperative Sharp-shinned Hawks. One flew within a foot of my head as it chased sparrows through a hedge row and across the path where I was standing to photograph a female cardinal at close range. It perched in a tree above me…partially obscured by twigs, but close. An hour later, just as I was on my way back to the car, this Sharpy flew in from behind me and settled in much better view, if a bit further away. I pushed the Nikon P610 out to 2600mm equivalent using Perfect Image digital zoom for this close portrait. You can see that the Sharpy was totally aware that I was there. 🙂
Nikon P610 as above. 1/400th @ ISO 100 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom. Below is a full body view shot at 1440mm equivalent (full optical zoom) and cropped slightly for scale.
full body view.
Immature Red-Tail Revisited.
Immature Red-tailed Hawk, Wells National Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farm, Wells ME
I am off to the Midwest Birding Symposium this am, so we have an early post. I ran a collage of images of this cooperative immature Red-tailed Hawk, found along one of the trails at Laudholm Farm last week. This is a close up view. A lovely bird by any standard.
Nikon P900 at 3200mm equivalent field of view using about 1.7x Perfect Image Zoom beyond the 2000mm optical. 1/200th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Immature Red-tailed Hawk
Immature Red-tailed Hawk, Wells National Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farms
I was bent over taking a flower macro on the Pilger Trail at Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Center) when I head the sound of big wings behind me and caught movement in the corner of my eye. I turned and looked down the trail in the direction of the movement. There was immature Red-Tailed Hawk sitting in a tall tree about 50 feed from me. It had evidently been on the ground or on a trail sign tucked just around a little crook in the trail where I could not see it when I walked up and stopped for the flower, and had flown just a couple dozen yards and up into the tree. It did not seem particularly alarmed at my presence. I got off a series of shots with the Sony HX90V in my hand…which reaches out to 720mm equivalent. I did not think there was much hope the hawk would sit there while I dug the Nikon P900 with its long zoom out of my camera bag, but it did. I shot lots of images of the hawk, even moving slightly closer and out into the trail to get a better angle. The hawk looked right at me, several times, but still did not seem to be particularly concerned with what I was doing. Eventually it moved further on and higher up, and then flew off under the canopy to somewhere my eye could not follow. It was one of those encounters that seems lifted out of time…so special that the world stops and balances on that point while it lasts. I felt incredibly blessed…privileged…and grateful.
I could not decide on just one image to post, so this a collage of three, taken at different focal lengths to show the full beauty of the hawk. All shots are with the Nikon P900, from 1000mm to 2000mm equivalent field of view. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Red-shouldered Surprise
Red-shouldered Hawk, Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, Palm Coast FL
I was taking a scenic shot of the shadows under the great oaks at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park in Florida when something big flew across my view and up into a tree behind me. Hawk! I spun, changing modes from Landscape to my custom bird and wildlife mode on the camera’s control dial as I moved, and got off two shots before the bird moved on. This shot, and one showing the birds tail-feathers as it left the frame. 🙂 That is the wonder of today’s superzoom cameras. From 24mm wide angle scenic to 2000mm super-telephoto bird shot in less than a second. And a camera like the Nikon P900 does both well. That is way they are so much fun!
P900 in custom bird and wildlife mode (full zoom, 2000mm equivalent field of view, standard manual spot auto focus, standard Program with -1/3 EV exposure compensation, etc.). 1/125th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Mangrove Common Black-Hawk
Mangrove Common Black-Hawk, Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, Honduras
The bird checklist for the Lodge at Pico Bonito lists two Common Black-Hawks: Common and Mangrove Common. They are both the same species, so far, but the feeling in Honduras is that they are distinct populations, and perhaps different birds. This is the Mangrove variety, found in the mangroves along the Cuero y Salado rivers near the Caribbean coast. It is a juvenile bird. We were birding from boats, and I had the distinction of spotting this young bird from across the broad river as we motored back to the docks. At first, due to the proximity to water, and the distance, I thought it was an Osprey. A closer look convinced me otherwise. Our second boat (the one with the guide in it) saw us suddenly turn and head for shore and looped back, so everyone had great looks as the bird perched on a snag and hopped along the shore.
Sony HX400V. 655mm equivalent field of view. Shutter preferred. 1/640th @ ISO 400 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.
Red-shouldered Hawk Poses
Red-shouldered Hawk Portrait
I decided on my last day in the Everglades (for this trip) that I would rent a bike and bike out West Road at Shark Valley as far as time allowed. I had no more than left the parking lot when I passed this Red-shouldered Hawk sitting on the “No-In-Line-Skates” sign just about at eye-level. I though, “he will be off as soon as I stop the bike” but when I stopped, about 30 feet in front of him, he sat there for long enough for me to get the camera out and  for a sequence of shots at two different focal lengths. That is what I call cooperative. And, other than rehabilitation birds, you simply do not get opportunities like this!
Sony HX400V at 1200mm equivalent field of view. Shutter preferred. 1/640th @ ISO 100 @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.
The Eye of Hawk: Cooper’s Hawk
You would be surprised at how many times I have found a hawk in this tree at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro New Mexico, especially considering that I only visit once a year for a few days. Twice it has been a Kestrel, hunting grasshoppers in the semi-flooded field below. This time it was a Cooper’s Hawk hunting somewhat larger prey. You have to love that eye!
Canon SX50HS. Program with auto iContrast and Shadow Fill. 1800mm equivalent field of view. f6.5 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 250. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.